The question of women priests should be considered in the larger context of the Received Tradition. I have spent many years investigating that Tradition from the perspective of cultural anthropology. The priesthood of Jesus Christ is not a metaphor. His mother was the daughter of a shepherd-priest Yoachin. Jesus belonged to the most archaic priesthood known. The Bible reveals that the priestly lines intermarried, were attached to great kingdom builders, and dispersed throughout the ancient world. They were known for their devotion to the Creator, and for their pure and sober lives. Messianic expectation began with them at least as early at 4000 BC. So when we speak of Received Tradition we are speaking of something older than all the world religions; long before the religions that emerged in the Axial Age. That is why I find it ironic that those who favor the ordination of women often attempt to justify this using the argument of antiquity. The simple fact is this: in the Received Tradition of the Church, women never served as priests.